Themes: Dangerous Friends, When Animals Attack, Mind Games
Main Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Elle MacPherson, Harold Perrineau, Jr., L.Q. Jones
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) accompanies his much-younger wife Mickey (Elle Macpherson) and a fashion photography team headed by Bob Green (Alec Baldwin) to a remote lodge in Alaska. Charles is a quiet, introspective man, fond of accumulating trivia and other facts in his encyclopedic mind; he is also troubled with the idea that Bob and Mickey may be lovers. Even though he suspects the younger man plans to kill him, Charles goes with Bob and his assistant Stephen (Harold Perrineau) on an airplane trip to find a photogenic friend (Gordon Tootoosis) of the lodge owner (L.Q. Jones), but the plane crashes in a lake, killing the pilot. The crash is miles from their planned path, so they can't expect to be spotted by an aerial search; there's only one chance: they have to walk to a more likely spot.Though Robert and Stephan are more physically fit, Charles' calm wit and ingenuity proves the key to their survival, especially after a ferocious bear brutally kills Stephen. Robert and Charles' odyssey becomes more urgent when they discover that the bear is now stalking them. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
Review
This underrated adventure-thriller is intriguing, entertaining, and features gorgeous panoramic views of its wilderness locations. Combining a tight script by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter David Mamet with the skillful direction of Lee Tamahori, the pacing is on target, the conflicts are provocatively foreshadowed, and the lead characters are realistically flawed, fully fleshed-out human beings. Anthony Hopkins brilliantly portrays an intellectual billionaire juxtaposed to Alec Baldwin's vulnerable performance as a shallow fashion photographer. Mamet's exploration of the moral psychology and mind games between the leads, as well as the sheer physiology of man versus nature, grows delightfully complicated when the men develop a love/hate relationship dependent upon their short-term needs for survival, their fight against a man-eating bear (ferociously played by Bart the Bear), and their desire for the same woman. The story line has its flaws - notably the confusing back story of Baldwin's affair with Hopkins' wife (a supermodel adequately played by Elle Macpherson), and the lack of a satisfying denouement. As photographed by veteran cinematographer Donald McAlpine, The Edge makes full use of the Alaskan setting (actually filmed in Canada) for its majestic and mountainous grandeur, but it's the action scenes and believable intensity between Hopkins and the bear that will put viewers on the edges of their seats. ~ Lisa Kropiewnicki, All Movie Guide
Kathleen Wilhoite - Ginny; David Lindstedt - James; Mark Kiely - Mechanic; Eli Gabay - Jet Pilot; Larry Musser - Amphibian Pilot; Brian Arnold - Reporter; Kelsa Kinsly - Reporter; Bob Boyd - Reporter; Gordon Tootoosis - Jack Hawk; Brian Steele - Bear Double; Bart the Bear - the bear
Credit
Richard Roberts - Art Director, Richard Roberts - Supervising Art Director, Donna Isaacson - Casting, Julie Weiss - Costume Designer, Philip A. Patterson - First Assistant Director, Lee Tamahori - Director, Neil Travis - Editor, Lloyd Phillips - Executive Producer, Jerry Goldsmith - Composer (Music Score), Wolf Kroeger - Production Designer, Donald M. McAlpine - Cinematographer, Grace Gilroy - Production Manager, Art Linson - Producer, Janice Blackie-Goodine - Set Designer, Peerless Camera Company - Special Effects, Eric Batut - Sound/Sound Designer, Betty Thomas - Stunts Coordinator, Lynne Bespflug - Unit Production Manager, David Mamet - Screenwriter, Roger Vernon - Additional Cinematography
